Monday, January 20, 2014

Case Study of the Sherlock Season 3 Finale

Case History:

There was a two year wait post
the Sherlock season two finale The
Reichenbach Fall. Sherlock Holmes jumped off a building, but didn’t die, leaving only a frenzy of theories and questions. There was no way writers Steve Moffat and Mark Gatiss (who also plays Mycroft in the show) could live up to the fans’ expectations.

But they did. They not only lived up to the
expectations but also smashed said expectations to smithereens. Season Three
was the funniest, the most personal and the most bromantic segment of Sherlock and it ended gloriously with His Last Vow.

The ‘warm’ and ‘emotional’ side
of Sherlock that we saw in the first two episodes disappeared without a trace
in The Last Vow. The episode was
scripted by Moffat and it was one of the coldest segments and probably the
darkest of the series. It also had the much needed mystery-driven tone that was
missing in the first two episodes. If you’re in the tiny section of people who
still haven’t seen the Sherlock
finale, turn away because spoilers follow.

The Facts:

Sherlock’s latest threat, the
icy, terrifying Charles Augustus Magnussen (played by Lars Mikkelsen, the
brother of Mads Mikkelson) was the first villain of the series to really make
the hair at the back of your neck stand. Unlike the other villains in the
series Magnussen literally touches his victims, with bodily fluids at that. He has
an even more insane skill for deduction than Sherlock and his own gigantic mind
palace that he uses to blackmail and exploit people. The reveal of Magnussen’s
vaults, and the red herring of his 4G LTE glasses shook up Sherlock more than
Moriarty ever did. This was a downright unsettling guy, and it was great to
have a villain for the first time since Moriarty shot himself in the face. The
all too obvious nod to Rupert Murdoch was a fun addition to his character.

The episode also turned out to be
a waterfall of twists and turns, least of which was the one surrounding
Watson’s wife.

The reveal had some heavy duty shock value due to the fact that Magnussen,
a legitimately scary bloke was shown as being afraid of her. Watson’s
propensity towards danger and psychopaths was suspected previously but is
pretty much cemented here – his best friend is a high functioning sociopath and
he fell in love with an international assassin. He loves peril, he misses the
war, and he can’t handle the truth. The scene where Watson is made to face this
fact plays out beautifully, and Martin Freeman brings so much depth to his
character.

Cumberbatch himself is at the top
of his game, especially in the terrific scene where he hurtles around his mind
palace after being shot by Mary. It’s an incredible sequence and props to
director Nick Hurran for bringing his own vision into it. Molly and Anderson
appearing as the physical manifestations of Sherlock’s inner voice was a nice
touch, as was Moriarty appearing as Death, trying to manipulate Sherlock into
submitting to the dark side.

The Highlights:

- Mrs Hudson’s Marijuana addiction and exotic
dancing YouTube videos.

- Molly repeatedly slapping
Sherlock.

- When Sherlock tells Watson that ‘Magnussen
is quite simply the most dangerous man we’ve ever encountered and the odds are
comprehensively stacked against us’, Watson says ‘But it’s Christmas’. To which
Sherlock smiles and replies ‘I feel the same’, and is quickly dismayed that
Watson is referring to it actually being
Christmas.

- Sherlock shooting Magnussen to death was all
the more fulfilling after the deliciously menacing scene where Magnussen flicks
Watson in the eye to display his power over him.

- In Arthur Conan Doyle’s final mystery ‘The
Last Bow’ Sherlock and Watson talk about ‘the East wind’ and part ways forever.
That conversation takes place in this episode’s final moments, and you’re led
to believe that it’s the end of Sherlock. Slyly, even the end credits drum
beats kick in when Sherlock’s flight takes off, and suddenly stop to offer a
jaw dropping final twist in the tale – Moriarty’s return. The man appears on
every video screen in London and says ‘Miss me?’ Yes, we missed you, you weird evil
fucker.

The Clues:

How the devil is Moriarty back? Right now a lot of people need to wear the T-shirt that Magnussen recommended Watson to get: with "I don’t understand" on the front and "I still don’t understand" on the back. Moriarty shot himself in his mouth. Everyone saw him die. Well,
everyone saw Sherlock die too, but #SherlockLives trended on Twitter, and I’m pretty
sure #MoriartyLives will trend in the Season 4 premiere. So let’s explore the
options:

1) Earlier Sherlock said that he
systematically dismantled Moriarty’s network over a period of two years. So Moriarty
is not really alive, and someone simply used an old clip to broadcast it all
over London as a threat. This could be Sebastian Moran, who in the books was
described by Sherlock as the second most dangerous man in the world, the first
being Moriarty. Moran was in cahoots with Moriarty in the books, and could well be the villain of
Season 4.

2) Sherlock orchestrated the
Moriarty broadcast. Remember, he was being sent to Eastern Europe on a certain suicide
mission. So he could have planted the broadcast to make the cops call him back
to London. He had hacked into phones in A
Study in Pink so this broadcast wouldn’t be that hard for him to pull off.

(a) He could’ve used help from Lady
Smallwood as a return favour for eliminating Magnussen.

(b) When Mycroft arrives in his
chopper to see Sherlock pointing a gun at Magnussen, the sniper bellows ‘target
is unarmed’, which means the target was always Magnussen. That way Mycroft was
always in league with Lady Smallwood and Sherlock. Why else would he bring a
top secret suitcase to his parents’ home for Sherlock to steal and give it to
Magnussen?

3) The most plausible scenario is
that Moriarty is actually back. The broadcast was a GIF image, but he actually
shows up after the end credits, and it would be really silly of Moffat and
Gatiss to tease Moriarty’s return for a year and then tell you ‘nope it’s
someone else’.

Possible Theories:

1) Moriarty used a fake gun,
although Sherlock spotted a fake gun in A
Study in Pink. So Moriarty could’ve used blanks in a real gun. At that
range even a blank could injure you, but certainly not kill you. We don’t see
any blood spurt or brains getting blown out when he pulls the trigger, and
Sherlock doesn’t really examine his body. The liquid coming from the back of
his head could well have been apple juice.

2) Moriarty used a real gun and didn’t
die because Fight Club.

3) Moriarty is Sherlock’s second
brother. There is a scene where Mycroft tells someone about a third sibling and
he hints that he did something unpleasant to him. As per the books’ mythology
Sherrinford is the third brother and is more cunning and observant than both
Sherlock and Mycroft.

The Suspects:

Steve Moffat and Mark Gatiss are
the same guys who at a recent press conference shouted that Moriarty is dead
and there was no chance he’d be back. They remain prime suspects in this case
for being lying scumbags and awesome showmen.